This invention relates to a curative and preventive agent for ulcers of digestive organs comprising as the main constituent an active component having anti-ulcer activity derived from cassia buds. Cassia buds are immature fruits of Cinnamomum cassia Blume belonging to Lauraceae.
The present inventors have heretofore conducted screening of pharmacological effects of a water-soluble component contained in cassia bark, and have consequently found that said component has strong inhibitory activity on gastric acid secretion, improving activity on gastric mucosal blood flow, accelerating activity on gastric mucus secretion and accelerating activity on gastric mucosa restoration, is not at all inferior in inhibitory activity on gastric acid secretion to Cimetidine which is now said to be the most potent as anti-ulcer agent, and has a preventive and curative effect also on stress ulcers and serotonin-induced ulcer.
On the other hand, the active component of this invention was obtained by extracting cassia buds with hot water, an alcohol or a water-alcohol mixed solution and has substantially the same activities as those of the above-mentioned water-soluble component of cassia bark, but was found to give an action spectrum a little different from that of the water-soluble component of cassia bark with respect to anti-ulcer activity on various ulcer model pathologic states obtained by using experimental animals. That is to say, as compared with the water-soluble component of cassia bark, the hot-water extract of cassia buds had a very low inhibitory activity on gastric ulcer induced by loading of cold exposure and restraint stress, had substantially equal inhibitory effect on cysteamine duodenal ulcer, and showed an inhibition percentage of serotonin-induced ulcer due to ischemic lesions of gastric mucosa of 54.3% on the basis of the degree of inhibition in the case of a control group when intraperitoneally administered at the dose of 20 mg/kg. This value indicates that the inhibitory activity of the hot-water extract of cassia buds is as high as 3 times that of the component of cassia bark.
Further, as to toxicity, the hot-water extract of cassia buds is low in toxicity: it showed a 50% lethal dose of 5,000 mg/kg or more when intraperitoneally administered to mice, and hence was concluded to be very high in safety.
From the results described above, it is suggested that the active component having anti-ulcer activity derived from cassia buds improves and increases gastric and duodenal mucosal blood flow to potentiate the preventing abilities and healing powers of digestive organs against ulcer and hence has excellent effects for preventing and healing gastric and duodenal ulcers, whereby this invention has been accomplished.
The object of this invention is to provide a novel curative and preventive agent for mucosal lesions and ulcers in the alimentary tract.